“I just want life to be normal again,” pleads a small business owner as Crimea faces its most challenging economic upheaval since 1992.

Crimea has often contemplated independence after becoming an autonomous republic within Ukraine that year. But when the Kiev government collapsed earler this year and anarchy prevailed, Russia looked a much more appealing option.

With no planning and minimal thought for practicalities, Crimea took the emotional decision to rewrite its political affiliations and move back in with its historical family. The aftermath has proved as much of an organisational challenge to Russia as it has to Crimea.

In 1992, post-Soviet Union Ukraine chose independence, while Russia took the federal route, retaining close ties with former satellites. Since then, ways of life and business have diverged, along with commercial and political affiliations.

Now the upheaval in Crimea is enormous. Lawyers, accountants and other professionals must be retrained and re-certified; the laws are suddenly different, from traffic to child protection. Money and bill-paying has changed; time went back an hour to match Moscow, passports need to be changed; banking and savings, travel, television, radio, are all different.

Life for small and medium-sized businesses became a trial of ingenuity and resourcefulness on a par with the bad old days of the early Nineties; but morale remains high and there is so far no sign of regret that Crimea decided to return to Mother Russia.“One look over the fence to see the terrible events in Ukraine and we know we were right,” is the sentiment generally expressed across Crimea. “We are confident that, however hard and confusing times are now, they will get better quickly, more quickly than in Ukraine”.

Russia is not complacent about the chaos the change of allegiance has caused, chaos not mitigated by the confused and arbitrary application of punitive measures by Europe and the US.

Crimea is suspended in a sort of Never-Never Land to which it is only possible to travel via Moscow. Access to other countries that previously maintained open and profitable trade with Crimea has been ended by the threat of reprisals. Flights from even close allies of Moscow such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Belarus have been suspended; more than 160 Black Sea cruises scheduled to visit Crimean ports have cancelled their visits with an immediate impact on small businesses. Tourism in general has taken a hammering.

Hundreds of thousands of Russians are planning to ditch foreign holidays in favour of Crimea, but they face logistical problems. Russia has slashed air fares and cancelled VAT on travel to Crimea but there will not be enough plane seats for all who want to go.

Tourists visiting Ukraine used to be able to travel by train, road or air. Rail and road, both crossing large tracts of Ukraine, accounted for 70pc of visitors. Road and ferry across the inland Sea of Azov was popular, but this route is now full of commercial traffic bringing consumer products previously “imported” through Ukraine to Crimea. Such is the demand for space in ferries that the Russian government wants to charter extra ships from Greece. Only half the usual number of tourists is likely to visit Crimea this year.

A bridge across the narrow straits between Russia and Crimea to carry road, rail, water, gas and electricity is now seen as essential. This poses an engineering challenge and is unlikely to be completed before 2018.

So that is the mountain Crimea needs to climb: the EU and the US have made it impossible for companies to trade directly with Crimea and business with the EU has slumped by 90pc. Until Russia, the EU and the US can resolve their political ambitions over Ukraine, and Ukraine’s deep economic crisis, this situation is unlikely to change. The victims, as ever, are ordinary people who just want life to return to normal.

So what about the upside? Russia has proposed a raft of support measures for Crimea, some of which are already improving lives. State employees have already had their salaries adjusted to Russian levels, 25pc higher. The retraining of civil servants, judges, lawyers, accountants and notaries public is under way. Businesses are being relicensed, VAT is being adjusted and taxes are being rationalised.

Russia has also proposed a range of putative investment projects to improve business and tourism. The creation of a special economic zone with far-reaching tax benefits is a high priority.

The regeneration of the Crimean film industry is under way and will be accompanied by a package of tax incentives; Crimea was a centre for film-making before the birth of Hollywood and enjoyed a lucrative existence until the collapse of the Soviet Union.

There is also a proposal for a casino and entertainment complex for the coast west of Yalta.

Essential services such as water, electricity, banking, post and mobile networks are being improved. Much of Crimea was already covered by subsidiaries of Russian telecoms giants so apart from the billing currency this has been relatively easy to change.

Russian banks already had branches in Crimea so the infrastructure was there. But the utilities will need huge international investment.

Ask any Crimean what they want most, the answer is likely to be “I want my country to be open again.”

Tim Lewin is an organiser and consultant for major financial, cultural and arts projects in Russia and Ukraine, and the UK Honorary Consul for development to Crimea.